Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

een negligible. Second- and third-tier pension provision is a clear growth area, filling the gap
left by declining state provision, and this represents an opportunity for the social partners to
become much more active in the formulation and management of provision, particularly in the
case of occupational pensions.
Key challenges remain, however, not least the ongoing impact of the crisis. Governments
have been under pressure to carry out cost-saving reforms in the context of austerity, within
the context of a need to respond to demographic developments. Trade unions and sometimes
employers’ organisations have in many cases been opposed to government plans, and have on
occasion managed to influence policy, but the sheer speed of events and the need to push
through reforms immediately has meant that the influence of the social partners sometimes
has been limited.
All of these developments represent significant challenges for the social partners.
Governments are clearly under pressure to find solutions to, on the one hand the very acute
challenges posed by the crisis, and on the other hand the longer-term challenges posed by
demographic and economic shifts. Seeking consensus with stakeholders such as the social
partners is one way of achieving this. Nevertheless, the social partners will need to develop
strategies to ensure that they remain at the negotiating table when governments are
formulating rapid responses to the crisis. The development of second- and third-pillar pension
provision represents a real opportunity for the social partners to become major stakeholders in
reform. However, they need to carve out a longer-term strategy in response to this, in order to
ensure their position as players in the development of this kind of provision, rather than
relying simply on state regulation.
Chapter 7 - European social dialogue developments 2010 – 2012
The social dialogue structures at the European level remain an important forum for
discussions and negotiations between the social partners at cross-industry as well as sectoral
social level across the EU. During the past two years the representatives of management and
labour have agreed on more than 70 joint texts, conducted numerous projects and started to
cooperate in new economic sectors. Overall, 2012 saw a significant number of agreements
signed by the social partners. Two of these, establishing minimum standards in inland
waterways transport, and hairdressing, were requested by the social partners to be
implemented through EU legislation under article 155.2 of the TFEU, and the same request is
expected from the social partners of the sea fisheries sector once their agreement is finalised.
These requests, particularly concerning the agreement in the hairdressing sector, became the
subject of some media attention and political debate in 2012. For its part the Commission is
assessing both agreements impartially and has not taken a decision on whether or not to
propose their legislative implementation. By contrast, a new agreement in the professional
football sector will be implemented autonomously by the social partners according to the
procedures and practices specific to management and labour and the Member States.
Furthermore, the cross-industry social partners have been conducting negotiations on the
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